It’s time once again to see how things are progressing on the currency markets. This time we’re covering the week running up to Christmas, so we’ll see whether there was any real movement for the British pound, or whether things were destined to quieten down a bit.
An overview of the currency markets for December 19th – December 23rd 2011
The starting rate for the pound versus the US dollar was 1.5542. Things dropped slightly on Tuesday as they fell to 1.5526, but one day later we were back up to 1.5623. Indeed it seemed as if the bad news happened early as we were able to finish the week on an encouraging 1.5672 overall.
Next up we will see how things finished against the Euro before the festive break. Here we were starting with a rate of 1.1896, but we immediately saw some good news as we finished day one on a better 1.1907. There was more good news to come though because the pound was clearly in the driving seat here, getting us up to 1.2003 before everyone left to enjoy Christmas.
So how were things left with the Hong Kong dollar? Our starting rate here was 12.096, and although the first day didn’t bring any good news the rest of the week certainly went our way. We peaked on the 21st with a rate of 12.204 but we still did well by the end of the week, finishing on 12.188 as a result.
Next it’s time to stop and see whether the New Zealand dollar did better than the pound, or whether it was the other way around. Our starting rate was 2.0350, but although we climbed steadily throughout the first couple of days, landing on 2.0481 as a result, we peaked too soon and finished up on 2.0240 on Friday.
Finally we can see whether we had a similar result against the Australian dollar too, which so often mirrors the New Zealand results as far as the pound is concerned. Here we began the week on 1.5537 and once again peaked after two days, on 1.5633. And once again we had a lower rate to contend with by Friday night, finishing on 1.5426 as a result.
Notable events in the world of currency
A drop against the Canadian dollar
The pound didn’t do well here, falling from 1.6057 to 1.5975 over the course of the week.
But a climb against the Swiss franc
Here there was better news, as we went from 1.4572 to 1.4669 over the same period of time.
A rise against the Chinese yuan as well
Here we had more good news as the pound went from 9.8385 to 9.9318.
It’s always interesting to read reports on how various currencies in other parts of the world are faring. The Malaysian ringgit appeared to be doing well before Christmas, according to this report on the Bloomberg website. This had good results for other areas of finance, as indicated in the article.
As we approach the end of 2011 it is intriguing to see how the various world currencies fare against each other. It would seem that the Euro will make it to the end of 2011, but it remains to be seen how far through 2012 it will get without being subjected to one or more dramatic events. It could be one of the most eye opening years ever, thanks to the situation on the currency markets at the moment.
However before we can look forward to 2012, there is the small matter of one more week in 2011 to trade in. Next week’s report will reveal whether there were any notable movements during that time, as we count down the days to the end of the year. We’ll be back then with another report on how well the British pound is doing on the markets.